Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei Unlikely To Be Overwhelmed By Moment At Notre Dame

If Monday’s meeting with reporters is any indication, Saturday’s game at Notre Dame isn’t going to be too big for true freshman quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.

After making the first start of his career this past weekend against Boston College in place of All-American quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is out with COVID-19, Uiagalelei will do the same in the most highly-anticipated game of the year so far.

It’s not so much that the former St. John Bosco High School star showed maturity beyond his years during the session, though he clearly comes across as a young man who has been raised right.

Instead, it was the apparent naivete of a can’t-miss star, a circumstance unique to college athletics, which lent credibility to Uiagalelei’s repeated insistence that the primetime showdown between #1 Clemson and #4 Notre Dame in South Bend is just another game.

“The only reason why it feels bigger is because it’s the next game,” Uiagalelei said nonchalantly.

“Coach (Dabo) Swinney likes to say, ‘Our biggest game is the next game.’ I think that’s the only reason why it’s the biggest game of the year, because it’s our next game.”

That message has seemingly been reinforced by quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter and Lawrence to the point where Uiagalelei doesn’t see any reason to believe otherwise.

“They said, just treat it like a normal game,” Uiagalelei said. “It’s our next game, the biggest game of the year is our next game. Just treat it like a normal game and go out there like it’s a regular Saturday.”

Of course, whether Uiagalelei realizes it or not – or for that matter anybody else involved will admit it – with the eyeballs of the country focused on it, this Saturday won’t be regular.

He doesn’t crave the spotlight and actually seems to cringe in it, evidenced by the fact that he blocked his own father on Twitter as a high-schooler so he wouldn’t have to see the effusive praise of a proud parent, but the 342 yards he threw for and three touchdowns he scored in his starting debut show he isn’t going to melt in it either.

Clemson’s starting quarterback certainly seems to be more worried about the opponent this week than the surroundings.

“The safety is really good,” Uiagalelei said, referring to the Irish’s super sophomore Kyle Hamilton. “They have a really good defense. They have a lot of veterans back there in their secondary.

“They’re super athletic, super long. I think they’re just a really good team overall and that secondary is a big part of it.”

Lawrence has been included on Clemson’s virtual meetings and has been giving his understudy plenty of advice.

“He said just to know every single coverage, know what they have to do,” Uiagalelei said of Lawrence. “Notre Dame has a really good defense, so just make to sure lock in on the keys we have going into it and lock in on the game plan.”

Uiagalelei acknowledged that last week’s game seemed to slow down as it went on and he got more comfortable. Of course, he’s been tested in practice plenty since arriving at Clemson.

“Going against our defense definitely helps out a lot…We have a really great defense, probably the best defense in the country.”

Notre Dame doesn’t need to be the best defense in the country on Saturday night, the Irish defense just needs to be a little bit than Clemson’s offense and their youthful signal-caller.